If you’re using an older iPhone app that is not yet fully compatible with the newest operating system, or you just simply don’t like the new Liquid Glass feature, you might be out of luck. Apple is slowly forcing everyone to switch to iOS by stopping security updates for iOS 18. But that doesn’t mean you can’t stop iPhone from updating to iOS 26 automatically for a few more months. Here’s how.
Since your phone needs to download the update to install it, you can prevent the automatic download in settings.
Step 1. Go to the Settings app.
Step 2. Tap on “General,” then select “Software Update.”
Step 3. Select “Automatic Updates,” then toggle off the option “iOS Updates” for both the “Automatically download” and “Automatically install” categories.
Part 2: Removing the Update File
While preventing automatic installations should be enough, your phone might’ve still downloaded the update file and is waiting for the last possible moment to install it. You can try to manually remove it from the device.
Step 1. Go to Settings, then to “General.”
Step 2. Tap on “iPhone Storage,” then scroll down until you find a file named “iOS 26” (it might be named iOS 26.1 or something similar depending on the exact version).
Step 3. Select the file and tap on “Delete Update,” then confirm your choice.
Part 3: Blocking Apple Update on Wi-Fi
If you want to go a step further, you can leverage the fact that iPhones generally won’t update when they’re only using mobile data. This is done by blocking the connection to Apple’s update servers on your Wi-Fi router.
Step 1. Go to a PC and enter your router’s local IP address in the browser. This is typically 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1.
Step 2. Log into your router’s administration page (the stock account credentials are usually printed on the label on the router itself).
Step 3. The interface and options will depend on your exact browser. Find “Domain blocking” or “Service filtering” (usually in the “Security” options). In some cases, you may need to go to “Parental Controls,” like with TP-Link devices.
Step 4. Add new domain-blocking rules, then block the websites appldnld.apple.com and mesu.apple.com in the rules. This might be under “Domain blocking” or “Keywords.”
Step 5. Click on “Save” and exit router settings.
Step 6. You need to remember to turn off Wi-Fi on your phone whenever you’re out of the house. Even connecting to a public Wi-Fi might prompt the iPhone to update.
How to Stop iPhone from Updating if It Gets Stuck
If your device is older and has its memory full, you may need to stop iPhone from updating to iOS 26 due to it freezing mid-way. This can usually be accomplished by force restarting the device, but is not a surefire method. Usually, your data should be backed up on iCloud and safe even if the iPhone needs to be reverted to an older update. You may need to use iTunes to update the iPhone manually anyway.
As an avid gamer, I’ve run into my fair share of error codes and weird faults that have forced me to find fixes to problems I never anticipated. That gave me a passion for sharing those fixes with others so we can all game without feeling like our hardware is rebelling against us.
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